Reference
What you are allowed to tow
The licence rule, the width and length limits, and every unit in the range measured against those limits, including the ones that sit right on the line.
This decides whether a unit can be towed by the person buying it, which is a question worth answering before a specification is frozen rather than after one is delivered.
Limits quoted from GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence, read 2026-09-07: What you can tow · Towing weight and width limits
The licence
It depends when you passed
| Licence obtained before 1 January 1997 | Usually a combined vehicle and trailer weight of up to 8,250 kg maximum authorised mass. Worth checking on your own licence record rather than assuming. |
|---|---|
| Licence obtained from 1 January 1997 | A trailer of up to 3,500 kg maximum authorised mass, which is category BE. If BE is not printed on the physical licence, DVLA adds it at the next renewal. |
| Anything heavier | Category C1+E, which needs a provisional licence, a lorry theory test and a practical test, and takes the combination up to 12,000 kg. Driver CPC applies if driving it is the main part of the job. |
The limits
Width, length and train weight
| Trailer width | 2.55 m For any towing vehicle. |
|---|---|
| Trailer length behind a vehicle of 3,500 kg or less | 7 m Excluding the A-frame. |
| Trailer length behind a heavier vehicle | 12 m And 18 m for the combination, with up to 3.05 m of rear overhang. |
| Gross train weight | On the VIN plate The fully loaded car plus the fully loaded trailer, and it must not be exceeded. GOV.UK is blunt about the other case: if the VIN plate lists no train weight, the vehicle should not be used for towing. |
Our range against those limits
22 units, 0 breaches, 6 sitting exactly on the line
| Unit | Width | Length with drawbar | Gross weight | Against the limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bar 220 | 2.03 m | 3.57 m | 1,300 kg | within every limit |
| Bar 500 | 2.30 m | 6.42 m | 3,500 kg | at the 3,500 kg category BE limit |
| Barbecue 400 | 2.20 m | 5.37 m | 2,700 kg | within every limit |
| Catering 500 | 2.30 m | 6.42 m | 3,500 kg | at the 3,500 kg category BE limit |
| Coffee 220 | 2.03 m | 3.57 m | 1,300 kg | within every limit |
| Coffee 300 | 2.10 m | 4.37 m | 2,000 kg | within every limit |
| Dessert 220 | 2.03 m | 3.57 m | 1,300 kg | within every limit |
| Kitchen 300 | 2.10 m | 4.37 m | 2,000 kg | within every limit |
| Kitchen 400 | 2.20 m | 5.37 m | 2,700 kg | within every limit |
| Pizza 400 | 2.20 m | 5.37 m | 2,700 kg | within every limit |
| Pizza 500 | 2.30 m | 6.42 m | 3,500 kg | at the 3,500 kg category BE limit |
| Street food 300 | 2.10 m | 4.37 m | 2,000 kg | within every limit |
| Accessible 300 | 2.10 m | 4.37 m | 2,000 kg | within every limit |
| Shower 400 | 2.20 m | 5.37 m | 2,700 kg | within every limit |
| Shower 500 | 2.30 m | 6.42 m | 3,500 kg | at the 3,500 kg category BE limit |
| VIP 400 | 2.20 m | 5.37 m | 2,700 kg | within every limit |
| Washroom 300 | 2.10 m | 4.37 m | 2,000 kg | within every limit |
| Washroom 400 | 2.20 m | 5.37 m | 2,700 kg | within every limit |
| Washroom 500 | 2.30 m | 6.42 m | 3,500 kg | at the 3,500 kg category BE limit |
| Welfare 300 | 2.44 m | 4.42 m | 2,600 kg | within every limit |
| Welfare 360 | 2.44 m | 5.03 m | 3,000 kg | within every limit |
| Welfare 420 | 2.44 m | 5.64 m | 3,500 kg | at the 3,500 kg category BE limit |
Two limits to check
Both cost money to learn late
Maximum authorised mass is the figure on the plate, not what the unit happens to weigh on the day. How ours is confirmed on the finished unit is set out in the written quotation.
The licence question is about the trailer's plated mass and the combination, so it is answered before a unit is specified rather than after it is built. A unit the buyer cannot tow is of no use to them.
Citing this
MODUWRIGHT. "What you are allowed to tow." Read 2026-09-07. http://127.0.0.1:8812/towing
Free to quote, reproduce or set as reading, in whole or in part, on one condition: name the source and link to it. If a row is wrong, tell us and it is corrected.
Set this as an exercise
Transport and logistics, events, vehicle engineering- A candidate passed their driving test in 1994 and another in 2004. Both want to tow a 3,500 kg unit. Explain what each may lawfully do and what the second has to obtain.
- Six units on the page sit exactly at the category BE limit. Explain the practical risk of specifying a unit at a limit rather than under one, and what evidence settles it on the day.
- Maximum authorised mass is the plated figure and not what the unit weighs on the day. Explain why a mass calculated at design rather than weighed on the finished unit transfers a risk to the buyer, and who carries it.
Free to set as coursework, print, adapt or put on a slide, on one condition: name the source and link to it. What else is free to teach from.
What a unit has to satisfy to be registered at all is on registration by country and the approval route finder.